Bernie Sanders and Bill Gates Want to Tax Robots

You’ve likely heard the left-wing Sen. Bernie Sanders calling for a tax on billionaires.

But did you know he also wants to tax robots? That’s right – the Vermont independent is proposing a robot tax in his new book, which would account for the impact of automation on workers.

According to Sanders, if workers are replaced by robots, tax and regulatory policies must be adapted to prevent greedy multinational corporations from profiteering at the expense of hard-working Americans.

The idea behind a robot tax is to discourage companies from replacing human workers with robots and to offset the loss of revenue from payroll taxes.

But this proposal is a misguided idea that would have negative consequences for firms, their workers, and the economy as a whole

. According to a report by Robert Seamans for Brookings, the notion that robots are taking jobs is not well-founded and would lead to less economic growth.

Even billionaire Bill Gates, who Sanders surprisingly references in his book, has proposed similar misguided policies. As conservatives, we believe in free-market principles and recognize that policies like a robot tax would only hinder innovation and economic growth.

We must reject this radical idea and instead support policies that encourage job creation and economic prosperity.

Gates has said that the tax could help finance jobs requiring “human empathy and understanding,” such as elder care, having smaller class sizes or helping children with special needs.

Sanders also points to other ideas from other sources, as well, that would require companies to pay a portion of payroll taxes into a retraining fund for displaced workers or that would prevent automation from reducing tax revenue.